ELIZABETH, N.J. — Two jail inmates used photos of bikini-clad women to hide holes they used to escape and left behind a thank-you note, signed with a smiley face, for a guard they claimed helped them, officials said Monday.
Jose Espinosa, 20, and Otis Blunt, 32, squeezed through the openings sometime before dawn Saturday in a high-security unit of the Union County jail, jumped onto a rooftop below, and made it over a 25-foot-high fence topped with razor wire, authorities said.
Authorities withheld the name of the officer the inmates said was involved. The note, found in Espinosa’s cell, read, “Thank you Officer … for the tools needed. You’re a real pal. Happy holidays.”
Authorities are investigating the claims. The guard named in the note has not yet turned in a report, and disciplinary action has not been taken against any guard, said the county prosecutor.
Espinosa was awaiting sentencing for manslaughter in a drive-by shooting, and Blunt is facing robbery and other charges in the shooting of a convenience store manager.
Espinosa and Blunt used thick metal wire like those used to bind chain link fences to poles to scrape away mortar around a cinderblock in the wall between their cells, and then around a cinderblock in an exterior wall in Espinosa’s cell, authorities said.
A 10-pound steel water shut-off wheel apparently was used to crush cinderblocks so they could be hidden in the cells.
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